Kitty Deschanel | Food, Wine, and Travel Adventures Across the USA

Souper Bowl Santa Fe That's SOUPer bowl, not Super Bowl. I was only in it for the snacks and funny commercials anyway. Does this cozy winter weather have you craving a hot, fragrant bowl of soup? How about TWENTY FOUR bowls of soup featuring every flavor imaginable, including Southwestern favorites?  (For you math nerds, 24 bowls of soup x more than 1,000 attendees = hundreds of gallons of soup. 😲) You won't want to miss the 26th  Souper Bowl in Santa Fe , NM. It's a culinary tradition locals and visitors look forward to all year. Yes, I'm dragging The Grump back to Santa Fe . It turns out he's quite agreeable when food is involved. There's a reason people, even grumps, travel from near and far for this foodie fun. Some of the most popular restaurants in the state compete for the coveted "Best Overall Soup" award, including Jambo Café, Terra Restaurant at The Four Seasons Rancho Encantado, and Rowley Farmhouse Ales. As a fan of the S...

After experiencing it on a business trip, Sexy Nerd has wanted us to go to San Antonio, TX for almost 10 years. We've finally visited and we loved it! Don't tell New Mexico, but I think we might be Texans at heart. I researched the best places to eat in San Antonio and put together a little food tour for us. Here are details on the restaurants we made it to, including the best things to order at each. It's a walkable city, so no car is needed for this food tour. There are also plenty of weird, quirky stories because weird, quirky things seem to happen to us. Sadly, there was more to eat than humanly possible during our short trip. I've included a list of restaurants we still need to experience at the end of this post. Go enjoy them for us! Where to Eat in San Antonio San Antonio, TX = Foodie Paradise The riverwalk in San Antonio was gussied up for the holidays. Although there are many great restaurants lining this popular tourist area, be warned that it...

I have a hilariously disgusting puppy story to share. It isn't quite as dramatic as Biscuit's funny dog story , but comes close. In the photo below, 8-week old Olive was exploring the house and I was following her with my camera. She wandered into the pantry and became excited when she found a bin of plastic bags. Yipping and squirming, she pawed through them and knocked over a dustpan that was resting against the wall.  "What are you doing?" I cooed, thinking this was really adorable. I stopped taking photos. She was pooping. As gross as that was, you really can't beat the convenience of having it right in the dustpan. Such a good, smart puppy! Can you tell I'm a proud dog mama? Now that you've suffered through that TMI story, here are some Olive photos to enjoy. I promise she's not doing anything inappropriate in any of them! Cute Puppy Photos        Update: We'...

No More Adorable Nerds Jumping On the Bed... ...Because One Fell Down and Bumped His Head. ***Hilarious Update*** I've received an email from Amerisleep (on our 16-year anniversary , of all days) asking if I can please remove the word "S _ _ y" from this post, even though it has been fine for the last 8 years and even though that is my husband's name here on my site. See our dancing photo at the end of each page? That's right. This site is "Kitty Deschanel: A S _ _ y (Nerd) Lifestyle & Humor Blog," but that word is just too risqué for mattress shoppers.  The Amerisleep mattress approach to marketing I'm sorry to have offended you, dear reader. Amerisleep has suggested I call my husband Adorable Nerd (really!) instead and I am running with it (and laughing my b _ _ t off). 🤣 I'm reposting this in honor of the 8 year anniversary of our mattress...which shockingly is still like-new. Long before anyone had heard of Casper or...

1/13/19 Update: I discovered the following investment advice in my email this morning, courtesy of Robinhood. I'm sharing it here as a cautionary warning to anyone who thinks Amerisleep and Casper are interchangeable. (FYI, Amerisleep has been in business since 2006 and Casper since 2014.) Casper is not currently profitable. If the worst happens, good luck getting a nonexistent company to honor your warranty or return. Mattress unicorn Casper awakens for an IPO After a restful private sleep...  direct-to-consumer mattress unicorn  Casper  wants to  go public . While you munch açai (food health) after a yoga/spin-hybrid class (workout wellness), Casper thinks you forgot the 3rd pillar of the health/wellness trend:  sleep . The self-proclaimed "pioneer of the sleep economy" cut out the middleman and basically put  Mattress Firm  out of business - so we jumped into its IPO paperwork. These numbers woke us up...   Spoiler:  Just li...